Becky’s in the running to raise cancer cash

Becky Pryce, director of play behind the borough’s adventure playgrounds at Awesome CIC, is running the London Marathon on April 22, raising money for bowel cancer research. She is encouraging children across all the adventure playgrounds to wear pyjamas and bring in £1 to support the cause on April 12. She says she is excited about running the marathon, despite having never done it before and having broken her toe after chasing after her four-year-old son.
Becky, who grew up in Islington and started working on an adventure playground at the age of 16, said: “It’s a cause close to my heart because of the family and friends I’ve lost from bowel cancer. Any donations will be greatly appreciated. I can’t wait to take part in the marathon. And on pyjama day all the playgrounds will be participating and adults will be joining in too.”• Donations can be made at https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/RebeccaPryce1

A sweet result, thanks to Toffees

Toffees helped raise money for children’s cancer charity

Rock’n’roll stars and fans gathered at a local boozer to raise money for CLIC Sargent Cancer, the charity supporting children with the disease. The gig took place on March 23 at The Lexington pub in Angel. Among the performers were Toffees, a rock band that formed in 2015. Piers Nolan, the singer and guitarist of Toffees, said: “It worked out great. We raised £340 in total.” Also performing on the night were Block 33, Connor Adams and Rival Karma.Upcoming events at The Lexington can be found at thelexington.co.uk/calendar/

Best feet forward: Actors stage show

Robbie Martin and Rafaela Elliston in Hello Georgie, Goodbye Best

TWO actors from the Poor School, Pentonville Road, are bringing a play to Islington detailing true events of the 1970s. Robbie Martin, 27, and Rafaela Elliston, 23, graduates from the Poor School, which set to reopen this year as the Pauline Quirke Academy, wrote the play and will be performing it together. Hello Georgie, Goodbye Best depicts one weekend in January 1971 when Manchester United footballer George Best sought refuge at the home of actress Sinead Cusack.

Best, at that time known as “the fifth Beatle” because he was such a celebrity, went missing and could not be traced by his Man United team. He took refuge at the flat of young Irish actress Sinead Cusack in Noel Road, Angel, who Best had previously met on an Irish chat show.

Rafaela said: “We wanted to tell a story that had not been told and show it from a different angle. Robbie is playing George Best and I will be playing Sinead – just two people in a flat.” Once the press hunted Best down, crowds of people gathered on the streets and three-quarters of the capital’s police were involved in controlling the crowds.

The pair have been researching into the story to bring the play to life. Rafaela added: “It’s interesting how in Best’s biographies he says he went missing to escape the pressure. But he went to Sinead and they can’t have known each other that well at the time. People were expecting to find him in Manchester where he missed the football match but he ended up in Islington.”